Chinese Chess — AI, Two Players & Endgames

The engine follows the core Chinese Xiangqi Association rules: Red moves first; generals stay in the palace and cannot face; horses can be leg-blocked; elephants cannot cross the river and can be eye-blocked; cannons need exactly one screen to capture; and soldiers move sideways only after crossing. A move may never leave its own general attacked.

Against the computer, the player controls Red. Two-player mode supports local alternating turns. Endgame mode starts from a reduced position where Red must defeat the computer-controlled Black side within a target number of rounds.

Each band contains 30 levels. Beginner chooses among several reasonable moves, Intermediate searches two plies with less variation, Advanced consistently selects the top evaluation, and Master searches three plies to see exchanges, checks, and replies more clearly. Endgame defensive material also becomes more constrained.

Stalemate differs from international chess. In Xiangqi, a player with no legal move loses even if the general is not currently attacked. The engine applies this rule.

Tournament responsibility rulings for perpetual checks and chases require detailed case analysis. This browser version preserves movement, check, mate, and stalemate, then uses a transparent simplification: the same position with the same player to move three times is a draw, as is reaching 200 plies.

Reduced positions focus practice on checks, blocking, exchanges, and palace control. The UTC date fixes the same endgame and mirror orientation for everyone, making move count and time comparable.

Hint runs a position search at the current difficulty and highlights a recommended origin and destination without making the move. A challenge link fixes the mode, level, and endgame seed so a friend receives the same conditions.